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| 7 Septuagint :: Large-Print English Edition (Brenton) | |
The original language of Old Covenant scripture is Hebrew tongue of the patriarchs. But, through a curious series of events which took place surrounding the epoch of the Incarnation, the ancient Hebrew language was abandoned, the original Hebrew Canon vanished without a trace, and the hand of Providence provided for the era of the New Covenant a successor to the Hebrew Canon--a translation of the Canon from the obscure and obsolescent ancient Hebrew into a modern, universal language, the Koine dialect of Greek. This translation of the Canon today is known as the "Septuagint", the name reflecting the tradition that seventy translators were engaged in the work.
The transformation of the Canon from ancient Hebrew to Koine Greek was vital, for it made the Scripture accessible to Israelites scattered centuries before by the Assyrian dispersion. Moreover, because of the transformation, the Canon of Scripture, once it had been brought to a state of completion by the writings of the apostles, was in a single language, which is a matter of profound importance, one of the most important consequences being that the Church has absolutely no dependence upon the Jew for access to or interpretation of Old Covenant scripture.
Other articles published by this ministry discuss in detail the abandonment of the ancient Hebrew language, the ramifications of the transition from Hebrew to Greek, efforts on the part of the Jew to revive the Hebrew language and to recreate the lost Hebrew Canon, and the reason why most editions of the contemporary English Bible are based upon a Jewish counterfeit of the ancient Hebrew Canon, rather than upon the Greek Canon which was authenticated by Christ Jesus and the apostles.
Thankfully, in recent generations there has been a revival of interest in the Septuagint. At present, there are in print at least three English translations of the Septuagint, and it appears that at least one additional translation currently is in progress. Until very recently, no publisher has broken with tradition so as to bind an English translation of the Septuagint together with an English translation of New Covenant scripture into a single volume. But finally, there is such a Bible, which has been given the name, "The Apostolic Bible"; it is published by the Apostolic Press in Newport, Oregon. The same publisher has available a Greek-English interlinear edition of the Septuagint, which serious students of the Scripture should find of great value.
The other two English translations of the Septuagint of which the author is aware are the Thompson translation, made in the middle of the 18th Century by an American, and the Brenton translation, made in the middle of the 19th Century by a Englishman. The Brenton translation originally was published in A.D. 1851 in London by Samuel Bagster & Sons, Ltd. Today, the Bagster edition is available in facsimile reprint as ISBN 0-913573-44-2, at a cost of approximately twenty-five dollars U.S., and can be had from many local bookstores, as well as by mail order. Though it is not an interlinear Bible, the Bagster edition does include the Greek text, which is set in a medium font in a wide center column, with the English text set in a rather small font in a narrow side column.
Regrettably, the very small font (7- or 8-point) which Bagster employed for the English text is quite taxing on the eyes, and thus discourages prolonged reading. Accordingly, this ministry has undertaken to typeset the English text of the Bagster edition in a large font. Because of the early publication date, the Bagster edition has no encumbrance of copyright.
Though all the books of the Old Covenant Canon now have been posted, there remains the need to ferret out transcription errors. Regrettably, funding at present does not allow the work of transcribing to be done commercially; commercial transcription utilizes the technique of double-keying (in which the text is repeatedly transcribed until two transcriptions match perfectly) in order to ensure absolute fidelity to the original. It is requested that all typographical errors which are discovered be reported back to this ministry, so that this edition may be brought into conformity with the Bagster original.
The pages are designed to be printed on letter-size paper (8-1/2 inch by 11 inch), which is standard in the United States. The font (11-point Times) and leading (the space between the lines) have been chosen to enhance readability, while providing a pleasing appearance for the page layout.
The file corresponding to each book of the Septuagint is posted in the universal, printer-friendly PDF format. Virtually any home computer system can read and print the PDF file, or the PDF file can be burned to CD and taken to almost any copy shop for printing.
As a special accommodation for the visually-impaired, there is posted also an HTML version of each book. Virtually every web browser allows the user to increase or decrease the size of the displayed text in steps, according to his preference.
Russell L. Harris, Evangelist <rlharris@gospelbroadcasting.org>
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| 7 Septuagint :: Large-Print English Edition (Brenton) | |
septuagint-01-genesis.html